Nikon Coolpix S560 Review

The Nikon Coolpix S560 is a 10 megapixel, pocket digital camera. It has one or two extra features such as being able to take square photos and record time lapse movies. It has a 5x optical zoom lens. Other features include image stabilisation and a 2.7 inch LCD screen.

This is a good, solid pocket camera. It has one or two extra features as mentioned above and is fast to start up and take a photo.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
The Coolpix S560 is off to a good start. Focusing is sharp without being perfect. Both the boats in the centre of the photo and the building behind are in sharp focus. I like the colours and the brightness of the shot.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
In this photo I can see some darkness creeping into the corners of the shot. This can happen with lenses at the cheaper end of the market as they are unable to capture enough light. When it comes to sharpness this shot is about average.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
One of the problems I have with smaller Nikon digital cameras is the fact that focusing options are limited and you cannot select multi point focusing. Multi point focusing is ideal for most landscape style shots as it makes the camera focus right across the photo reducing the loss of sharpness as you move towards the edges. I have improved the sharpness of this shot by selecting the landscape scene mode. This has helped to produce a photo that is much sharper throughout the shot.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
As with the third outdoor shot I have used the landscape scene mode. This has made the brickwork much sharper and reduces the softness of the photo as you move away from the centre. I would suggest using this setting for all landscape type shots.

Outdoor Portrait
With the subject closer to the camera this photo is sharper than the outdoor scenic type shots. Face detection focusing is available to help with sharpness. Lighting is good and the Coolpix S560 should be able to produce decent portrait shots, outside in natural light.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
This shot works well for a smaller compact camera. The light is spread evenly and there is enough of it to create a bright shot. There is also plenty of colour in the skin tones.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
Here the Coolpix S560 does well when compared to other digital cameras. There is more definition in the shot that is normal. It is likely you will be able to produce good window light portraits with this camera.

Colours
The colours produced by Nikon digital cameras in general have a natural look to them. In fact I would go as far to say that Nikon offer some of the best colour balance going.

Macro
You need to be at least 10cm away from the subject for the camera to focus. This makes it difficult to take really good close in shots. My test shot is o.k. but this is not a strength of the Coolpix S5600. My test shot has been cropped for display.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600
Noise levels are in line with expectations. The most positive point is that the colours stay relatively true and do not break down in the way that they often do with other cameras.

Overall
I would describe the Coolpix S5600 as a middle of the road pocket camera. The main plus points are the colours and lighting of the photos.

Shutter lag times are standard. A single photo was timed at 0.39 seconds and five at 9.61 seconds. With flash on times increased very little. One shot took 0.45 seconds and five took 10.52 seconds.

Turning the camera on and taking the first picture was a shade faster than standard at 2.35 seconds.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

This is an unfussy, rectangular, pocket camera. It is available in pink, light blue, silver and black.

93 x 54.5 x 23.5 mm

130g

Lithium ion (EN-EL11). Nikon suggests you should be able to take around 160 shots in between charges. A battery and a charger are supplied as standard.

44MB of memory have been built into the Coolpix S560. I was able to take 20 pictures before the memory was full. The camera is compatible with SD and SDHC cards.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Very Good. This is one of the more straightforward digital cameras. I found the menus very clear and easy to read as well.

Ease of use - help text

Macro mode

One alternative camera with a 5x optical zoom lens is the Olympus FE-370. This one does not have all the features of the Coolpix S560, but is a little cheaper.

The Nikon Coolpix S560 may not be spectacular, but it does what it sets out to do. It is a straightforward, pocket camera that takes a decent snapshot. It is easy to use and has one or two different features too.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

	GBP 109.99
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Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Nikon Coolpix S560